One like http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/missing-mss32dll/ebbf3c2b-d0be-4414-bd30-ed9195ea8bab?auth=1 seemed to fix it.
I am attempting to get a game of mine to launch but am unable to do so because of an issue with the .dll file mss32.dll. The game is called Rome Total War (an older game but one I enjoyed). My version is an original I purchased (is not ripped). When attempting to launch the game nothing happens unless I try to launch the game from the game disk .exe file where I get the message "The MSS DLL file is installed in the windows or windows system directory - it must be installed in the application directory". I tried various combinations of having the mss32.dll file in the system32 and syswow64 and the game folder where it was when the game installed but the game still will not launch.
I tried uninstalling and reinstalling the game several times but am having the same problem.
Looking around online I found that I had to re-register the .dll file using regsvr32.exe in CMD. Doing this I get an error message "the module "mss32.dll" was loaded but the entry-point DllRegisterServer was not found. Make sure that "Mss.dll" or OCX file and then try again". Looking around online again it seems that I have some bad registry files that are preventing me from registering this file. Most suggest using a registry cleaner to find and remove the bad registry entries.
I am not sure about using any free registry cleaners and would like to fix the problem without having to purchase one. I opened the registry editor and searched for mss32.dll and found only one result which is located in an "ArchHistory" folder. The data value for the key is pointing to my downloads folder (C:\Users\2nd comp\Downloads\mss32.zip). I am thinking that maybe this is what is causing the errors I am getting but am not sure. Also not sure if simply searching through the registry for "mss32" will return all keys that would point to it (be they good or bad entries). At this point I am looking for help on next steps and how to fix the issue.
The game did work previously so I believe the DLL file that came with the game is ok. I do not have a system restore point to return to. I am running Windows 7, 64bit OS.

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